Miscommunication
by 0rycbar0
Summary: "It's not violence. It's communication." That's what Astrid says. She always lets her actions speak for her. So, she runs into a bit of trouble when there's a bit of miscommunication between her and Hiccup. *Takes place after DoB*


It was another day at the Berk Dragon Academy. All the riders and all their dragons gathered in the arena, busy prepping their dragon for the lessons of the day. Fishlegs was hard at work…massaging Meatlug's feet. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were busy…headbutting each other, Barf and Belch watching them in confusion. And Snotout…he couldn't find a mirror to flex in front of, so he was tasked with the tiring duty of napping against Hookfang's neck.

"Guys," Fishlegs spoke up. "Aren't we missing someone?"

Tuffnut paused from his headbutting to begin counting the riders present.

"Nope, all eight of us are here," he said.

"Eight?" Fishlegs repeated. "There were never eight of us."

"Sure, there are. Me, Ruffnut, Ruffnut, Ruffnut-"

"You already said Ruffnut," Fishlegs pointed out.

"So? She's so big I'm sure anyone would mistake her to be five Vikings."

That remark instantly earned Tuffnut a punch from his sister. The fist to the helmet sounded almost like a gong in the arena.

"No. I mean, where's Hiccup and Astrid?" Fishlegs pointed out. "They're late. They're never late."

"Tell me about it," Snotlout remarked, waking up. "Normally Astrid can't even keep herself away from all this." Snotlout gestured toward himself.

Fishlegs was about to respond when they heard the familiar sound of the gate to the academy opening. Everyone looked up to see Astrid and Stormfly walk in, the Book of Dragons under Astrid's arm.

She slammed her axe into the ground next to her, the crack echoing through the arena and grabbing everyone's attention.

"Alright then," she said sternly. "Class is in session." She yanked her axe from the ground, putting it on her shoulder and marching to the center of the arena.

"Hey," Snoutlout chuckled. "As usual, she couldn't keep herself away from me." He walked up to her, practically leaning on her.

Astrid shot Snotlout an angry glare. For a moment, everyone expected her to sock him in the face. Wouldn't be the first time he got punched for something like that. Instead, she seemed to settle for a scowl, shoving him away.

Astrid walked over to the barrel in the center and set the book down, opening it to one of the pages.

"Hey, Astrid," Fishlegs spoke up. "Where's Hiccup?"

Astrid tensed at the mention of his name.

"Hiccup's calling in sick today," she said. "That means-"

"That means _I'm_ the new leader of the Dragon Academy!" Snoutlout cheered.

"That means _I'll_ be the _acting_ leader of the Dragon Academy," Astrid corrected angrily. "I'll be leading training until Hiccup gets better."

Immediately, everyone started groaning at this prospect, their imaginations going wild at what grueling workouts she had in mind.

"Don't be babies," she said. "These are all Hiccup's exercises. I just put an Astrid spin on them." More moans. "Keep complaining and I'll just make up some of my own." Immediately the moans stopped.

-.-

Training went smoothly, at least as smoothly as one could get when working with the twins and Snotlout.

"First, target practice," Astrid announced. "I want you to fly all the way out to the sea stack I've marked. Turn around and make a pass over the academy and hit the target inside."

"But, what about the roof?" Fishlegs asked, pointing at the chain net above their heads.

"Shoot between the chains," Astrid ordered. Astrid demonstrated first, flying out then flying back over the academy, launching not only a burst of flame, but a spine and even throwing an axe for good measure, all three of them going between the chains that made up the roof and all three of them hitting the target barrel inside.

Fishlegs utterly missed. Half the time he hit the chains and when he wasn't, he wasn't even close to the target. The twins seemed more interested in shooting the roof itself. Snotlout did hit the target…on his twelfth attempt… after landing right on the roof and poking Hookfang's head through the chains.

"Boom, baby!" Snotlout cheered, walking behind Astrid and putting his hands on both her shoulders. "Bet you're at a loss of words for my bone crushing skills. Right, Astrid?" Everyone held their breath, expecting the cracking noise of Astrid twisting Snotlout's arm. Instead…

"Speechless," Astrid said sardonically, shaking Snoutlout off. "Next is the obstacle course. Exit the Academy and go through the rings I've set up."

"Sound simple enough," Fishlegs remarked.

"And I made sure each ring was smaller than the wing span of your dragons," she added. "Which means you'll need to divebomb through each one." More moans. "The rings are on buoys anchored in the ocean which means they'll be moving." Fishlegs was practically crying by this point. "And, they'll all be on fire so don't get any bright ideas."

Astrid demonstrated the course. The buoys rocked from the tides beneath it, the rings shifting side to side. But, Astrid dove Stormfly through every flaming ring without issue. Now it was their turn.

The twins didn't even try divebombing, resulting in a double faceplant against the ring. Quadruple faceplant if you counted the twins flying off their respective heads and flying into the rings. Hookfang decided to flame up midflight, causing Snotlout to jump up in panic and faceplant at the top of a ring. Fishlegs and Meatlug apparently were very bad at dive bombing and they both got stuck inside one of the rings. Meatlug didn't mind the fire. Fishlegs…not so much.

"Final exercise," Astrid announced. "The speed challenge: fly three laps around the island as fast as possible. On the final lap, build up as much speed as you can and perform an emergency landing through the doors and into the Academy."

"You know how many times we fly through those doors?" Snotlout laughed.

"At controlled speeds," Astrid pointed out. "You're going to be going as fast as possible. But, if you're afraid it's too easy." Astrid walked to the entrance of the Academy and fiddled with the lever. The gate dropped halfway before stopping again. "There. Now you have to fit through half the entrance." Everyone groaned at the increased difficulty. "Oh yeah, and if you take too long with your laps, you get a hand-to-claw sparring match with Stormfly."

Everyone was wailing by this point.

Should be simple. It was literally flying three giant circles. But the twins got lost on the first lap. Fishlegs and Meatlug hit the outside of the arena on their landing. She was going to have to fill in the crater from their impact. Finally, was Snotlout.

"Not bad," Astrid commented as Snotlout completed his last lap around the island, watching from inside the arena. But, as the monstrous nightmare flew through the doors, it dug its claws into the dirt for the landing and came to a very sudden stop, sending Snotlout flying off its neck. Everyone dove for cover as the boy crashed into the barrels at the back. When the dust cleared, only his feet were visible.

"And I spoke too soon," Astrid muttered, rolling her eyes.

"I know you did that on purpose, Hookfang!" came Snotlout's muffled voice. "Can I get some help here?"

Astrid cleared away the barrels around Snotlout, but apparently the boy had his head jammed inside another. It took a single stomp and Astrid smashed the barrel into splinters.

"Alright, I think that'll be it," she said, walking back over to the barrels in the center of the arena and closing the book.

Astrid was about to leave but Snotlout cut of her off, putting one arm around her and holding the other one up.

"You know," he said. "That was a pretty hard landing. Maybe a kiss for the injured warrior?"

Snotlout brought Astrid in close. Not by the shoulder though. He had his arm around her waist, a bolder move than he's ever done before. Everyone held their breath for what was to come. Afterall, Astrid only had one answer to Snotlout's advances, and this was the most aggressive one yet, which only meant she would do one thing…

"I think not," Astrid said, shaking Snotlout off. She closed the book and signaled for Stormfly to follow her. "Class dismissed," she said, walking out of the arena with her axe over her shoulder.

Everyone, even the dragons, stared at the door, their mouths agape. Meatlug had her mouth full of rocks so some stones came tumbling out. Even Hookfang had his jaw hanging open.

"Did you see that?" Fishlegs stuttered.

"What?" Snotlout scoffed. "The fact that she is totally warming up to me?"

"More like she didn't totally hurt you," Ruffnut said. "I mean, she should've slammed you to the ground at least three times by now."

"Yea, it was kinda lame," Tuffnut echoed.

"More proof she is falling for the Snot," Snotlout insisted. Hookfang clearly disagreed, giving a flaming scoff at the comment. "I mean, why else would she stop throwing me around?"

"That is a good question," Fishlegs remarked. "Why would Astrid be afraid of hurting Snotlout?"

-.-

Astrid never thought a simple wooden door would ever look so intimidating. Her hand hovered over it, curled into a fist and ready to knock.

Just knock and get it over with.

She could always come back tomorrow.

The longer she puts this off, the worse it gets.

She was Fearless Astrid Hofferson. She's faced vicious dragons, Outcasts, Berserkers. What could be worse than facing those?

Facing Stoic. Facing Toothless. And perhaps even more terrifying than any of them, facing-

Astrid let out a gasp as the door opened ajar. She jumped back, wishing more for a shield than an axe. Toothless peeked his head out.

Toothless couldn't exactly speak, at least not in a language that she could understand, but his expression told her anything. Toothless wasn't exactly pleased to see her.

The fact that Toothless answered the door meant Stoic wasn't here. At least she'd be spared of him. Still, she couldn't do this.

"This was a mistake," she said apologetically, turning to walk away. Suddenly, she felt something yanking on the back of her skirt. "Toothless, stop! Let go!" She tried to pull away, but the night fury held firm. Why was Toothless so keen on pulling her back? If anything, shouldn't he be glad she was leaving?

Hearing Astrid's panic, Stormfly quickly walked up to see what was going on.

"Stormfly, little help here," Astrid pleaded. She was hoping Stormfly could talk Toothless into letting her go. Or something. The nadder looked at Toothless, giving a few squawks. Toothless responded with some growls, muffled growls since he stilled held onto her skirt with his teeth.

After several back and forths between the two dragons, Toothless finally let her go. Astrid let out a sigh of relief. Now she could escape before it was too late.

She barely took a step away from the house when she felt something clamp down on the back of her shirt collar.

"Stormfly!" Astrid yelled in protest, kicking and thrashing in a feeble attempt to get away as her dragon lifted her up into the air. Her eyes widened in panic as she watched Toothless open the door wider. Stormfly poked her head into the house and tossed Astrid inside.

Toothless and Stormfly watched from the front door, guarding it to make sure she couldn't run through. She wasn't leaving the house that way. There was only one other way out of the house: the trapdoor in the roof. But that meant facing…him.

Astrid took a deep breath. She would face him. She had to.

She slowly made her way up the stairs, praying he was asleep. If was he was asleep, she could just sneak out the trapdoor and leave. But every step she took creaked under her weight. And any one of those creaks could wake him up.

She finally made it to the top floor, a chill running down her spine as she looked upon the one person she dreaded seeing.

"Hiccup…" she breathed, putting her hands to her mouth. Hiccup was laying in his bed, his left arm in a sling and a bandage wrapped tightly around his head. And she knew there were even more bandages under his shirt.

She could wake him up and talk to him.

She could sneak out the trapdoor in his roof.

But she couldn't bring herself to do either. Her feet were glued to the ground. She could just stare at Hiccup.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be a punch on the shoulder for pissing her off. Followed by a kiss for everything else. It was just communication, letting him know how she feels since words couldn't really express it.

But she made the mistake of punching him at the top of the stairs to the great hall…after a day of rain…and the steps were slippery…all steps to the bottom of the hill.

It wasn't a hard punch. It would barely leave a bruise.

Wouldn't matter. It was hard enough that it caused Hiccup's metal foot to slide across the wet stair. And once he started tumbling, he didn't stop until he reached the bottom.

Astrid wanted to rip her hair out. She left much more than a bruise or a sprain. She could blame the stairs, the rain, Hiccup's prosthetic foot, or even Hiccup's clumsiness all she wanted. But she had to face one single fact: she caused this. It wouldn't have mattered how clumsy Hiccup was, or how slippery the steps were, or even which step they were on, if she simply didn't punch him; if she didn't use violence to express herself, he wouldn't be in this situation.

This was a mistake.

She prepared to sneak out the trapdoor over his bed when the rustling of cloth caught her attention.

"Astrid?" he groaned. Astrid was wondering if this was what it felt like being stung by a speedstinger. She couldn't move. She didn't know whether to run, hide, go to Hiccup's side, or just stand there and take what was coming to her.

Well, hiding was no longer an option. He had turned his head and was looking straight at her.

"I should go," she said awkwardly, turning to go down the stairs. She could always make a running leap past the dragons.

"No, you shouldn't," Hiccup said, reaching a hand out as if to grab her shoulder. But as he reached forward, he suddenly recoiled in pain.

"Hiccup!" Astrid gasped, rushing to his side. She helped Hiccup lay back down, making sure she was being careful with him. "This is all my fault," she said, putting her hand to her head.

"No, it's not," Hiccup said reassuringly.

"Yes, it is! If I didn't punch you, then you wouldn't have slipped, you wouldn't have fallen down all those stairs, and you wouldn't be here! Hiccup, people die from things like this!"

She didn't know what had gotten into her. She usually refused to show weakness in front of anybody. But in this case, she could not help but feel she deserved the humiliation. Astrid Hofferson making a mistake was bad enough. But this was more than a mere mistake. Someone was hurt because of her mistake. Worse than that, it was Hiccup of all people that ended up getting hurt.

"Hey, at least I didn't lose my other foot!" Hiccup pointed out with a dopey grin. This had to be because of brain injury. Hiccup could not possibly be trying to make light of this situation. Hiccup must've seen that his remark wasn't having its intended affect. So, he tried to push himself into a sitting position again, groaning in pain.

"Hiccup, don't," she said.

Hiccup ignored her, fighting to sit up. Seeing no other option, Astrid helped Hiccup sit up, kneeling down so she could be eye level with him.

"Listen, Astrid," he said. "This isn't your fault."

"For the love of Thor, Hiccup," Astrid snapped back. "I did this to you. So, stop playing nice and let me have it! Say it! And don't give me the '_it's not your fault' _nonsense! I know it's my fault! You know it's my fault! So just say it!"

By the time she was finished, Astrid was fuming. She didn't really know what got into her to get so angry. She wasn't angry at Hiccup. On second thought, she was angry at Hiccup. How could he let her just get away with this? She wanted to hear him say that he blamed her. She wanted to take what she deserved.

Hiccup placed a firm hand on Astrid's shoulder.

"Alright, Astrid, listen," Hiccup said sternly.

Was he finally going to do it?

"Maybe this whole thing is your fault," he said. "Maybe the reason I'm here like this is because of you. But nobody blames you. My father doesn't blame you. Toothless doesn't blame you. Most of all, _I_ certainly do not blame you! Me blaming you isn't going to heal me. And you blaming yourself isn't going to change what happened. Astrid, I know you want me to say it's your fault. Fine, it's your fault. You know what else, Astrid? I _forgive_ you!"

Astrid felt her jaw drop. If something like this would happen to her, she would hate the person for what they did. How could Hiccup not hate her? In the end, she had run out of words to say. What could she say? She wanted to slap him upside the head and yell at him for being so naïve. She wanted to get down on her knees and thank him for being so forgiving. At that moment, whatever guilt, anger, fear she felt finally let itself be known with shuddering sobs and a steady flow of tears down her face.

Hiccup placed his hand on her cheek, putting his forehead against hers. Or at least he tried to.

"Ow," he grunted, recoiling in pain.

Astrid couldn't put her head against Hiccup's. So, she put her head on his shoulder, his green shirt in her tight grip, let her tears flow into the fabric.

"Thank you," she said between shuddering breaths. "Just…thank you."

She guessed this was also a form of communication. She was just saying something she's never said before.

-.-

_**A/N: Hey guys. This look familiar to anyone? So, some of you may have read this before. That is because I have decided to start a new account dedicated to the HTTYD stuff and shall begin by transferring all old material here starting with this one. The materials will move on a weekly basis then I'll start deleting the originals. Still, I would love to see some new faces. For those of you who haven't seen this before, please review let me know what you think. And enjoy.**_


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